1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to a unitary, flexible, and resilient clamp for applying pressure to the outer surface of objects such as hoses, tubes or the like.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Single piece plastic hose clamps employing interlocking jaws and tongues are known. Multiple component clamps are also known. Examples of some one-piece, adjustable hose clamps are particularly described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,605,200 to Valinotto et al., 3,925,851 to Bevans, 4,128,918 to Wenk, 4,372,011 to Aranyos and British Pat. No. 1,600,601.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,605,200 to Valinotto et al. relates to a clamp for fastening a sleeve or collar on a tubular pipe. U.S. Pat. No. 3,925,851 to Wenk relates to a plastic hose clamp embodying in combination, an open ended hose-surrounding band and a clamping assembly. U.S. Pat. No. 4,128,918 to Wenk discloses a snap-on clamp for fastening objects such as flexible hose about a pipe. U.S. Pat. No. 4,372,011 to Aranyos discloses a flexible band clamp or clip for securing articles such as pipes or wires. British Pat. No. 1,600,601 discloses a clip for securing hosepipes which comprises a band for encircling the article to be secured. One end of the band contains a serrated tongue while the other end contains a pair of matching serrated jaws.
While these prior art clamps include open annular bands having interlocking jaw members at their ends, they are limited with respect to the range of outer hose diameters about which a single clamp is capable of being secured. Furthermore, these clamps are not capable of maintaining sufficient and uniformly distributed clamping forces about the object to be clamped in certain applications. In addition, these prior art clamps are deficient with respect to their ability to remain in a closed condition when subjected to vibration or other forces which would disengage the clamp.